This small lepiotoid mushroom has a distinctive ring, which features a dark, scaly underside. Its stem is pink or lilac, and the cap color is quite variable, ranging from purplish to brown. Since there are many superficially similar species--including the more commonly encountered Lepiota cristata--microscopic features should be verified for positive identification; Lepiota lilacea has a hymeniform pileipellis and small ellipsoid spores.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; found in gardens and urban settings; summer and fall; North American distribution uncertain, but probably widespread. The illustrated and described collection is from Colorado.

Cap: 1.5-3 cm; convex, becoming broadly bell-shaped; dry; by maturity with a purple-brown to dark brown center and elsewhere with similarly colored scales over a whitish to pinkish ground color.

Gills: Free from the stem; close; short-gills frequent; white.

Stem: 2-4 cm long; 2-4 mm thick; more or less equal; fairly bald; pinkish to purplish when fresh; with a persisting, sheathing ring that features a brown, ragged underside.